Being the second offering from Mistwalker, the development house founded by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Lost Odyssey has a lot riding on it. The first title from the developer, Blue Dragon, offered some pretty high-caliber production values, including art design by Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama and a score by Nobuo Uematsu (who also worked previously on Final Fantasy titles), but failed to be a huge hit with many North American critics who felt that its traditional gameplay didn’t stand up against more modern RPG fare. For the most part Lost Odyssey is just as traditional as Blue Dragon, and feels quite old-school against other Xbox 360 RPGs like Eternal Sonata.

However, while the gameplay is decidedly old school, the production values are where Lost Odyssey really shines. The art direction and story elements are fantastic, showcasing a tremendous amount of polish. Lost Odyssey is a great-looking game that can be quite fun, save for a few glaring flaws.

Lost Odyssey focuses on Kaim, an immortal mercenary who has seen basically every facet of human emotion over the thousand years that he has been alive. However, his immortality comes with a price, namely amnesia. As Kaim progresses throughout the game, he’ll meet other people, both mortals and other immortals, and slowly regain pieces of his memory. You can regain bits and pieces of your life through dreams, which are written anecdotes, set to music. While some of these are hit and miss, they are well written for the most part and are pretty interesting reads.

From the get-go, Lost Odyssey wears its traditional trappings on its sleeve. The combat system uses a simple turn-based model that won’t feel unfamiliar to RPG gamers. Once you start to get into the game, you’ll discover that the game has an very old-school approach to progression, meaning that level grinding and accessory mastering are key to surviving the game’s larger boss battles. Additionally, the game is pretty tough compared to most recently released RPG games, so be prepared to get spanked often.

One of the things that Lost Odyssey does differently from most RPGs out there is the ring system. The ring system allows you to add a special bonus to your attacks, be it an elemental boost or an attack boost in certain kinds of enemies. In order to get the added effect, you have to hold down the right trigger and line two rings at the right moment, which can be tough to do at first. This is a great new element that can really help turn the course of a battle.

Another element that the game does is it allows you to “learn” abilities from other party members. Your immortal characters can skill link with the mortals in your group and by gain the use of their abilities one at a time. Also, your immortals have the ability to learn skills from accessories, which is a nice addition.

On the downside, the biggest problem that Lost Odyssey has is slow pacing. The game has some pretty lengthy loading times, and they happen quite frequently. Also, the lead up to fights seems to linger on a bit too long, breaking up the action and making the game feel somewhat sluggish.

Graphically, Lost Odyssey looks great, thanks to great character models and fantastic art direction. The game utilizes Epic’s Unreal Engine 3, allowing for a tremendous amount of detail and great lighting effects. The one downside with the graphics is the spotty framerate, which hiccups quite often and can bog down.

The music is great, courtesy of frequent Sakaguchi collaborator Nobuo Uematsu. The score is fantastic, and accentuates the mood nicely. The voice acting is well done for the most part, and aside from a few over-the-top performances, is pretty impressive for a Japanese RPG.

Lost Odyssey has some pacing issues, and some of the more traditional elements like grinding and a tough difficulty level might turn off more modern RPG gamers. However, the story is great and the art direction is excellent, making it well worth a look.

Gameplay: 8.0
The game is extremely old-school, from the challenge level to the combat system, meaning that it’s not for everyone. Also, the game has some pacing issues, with substantial load times breaking up the game. However, the ring system is well done, and the story elements will keep your interest.

Graphics: 8.5
The Unreal Engine 3 is used quite nicely here, letting the world be fully realized in tremendous detail. The only downfall is the spotty framerate.

Sound: 9.0
Although there are a couple hammy voice actors in the bunch, most of them sound great and the score is excellent.

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: 8.5
While the gameplay is perhaps a little too traditional and old-school for most mainstream gamers, the story and art design are tops.

Overall: 8.5
Lost Odyssey is as old-school as Mistwalker’s previous Xbox 360 effort, albeit a lot more difficult and requires a lot more level grinding. Plus, the pacing issues will undoubtedly frustrate gamers wanting to keep the game moving. Still, there is a lot to love in Lost Odyssey, thanks to the top-rate production values and story.